National

In June the Schott Foundation hosted a special extended-length webinar diving deep into implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act. While discussing the minutiae of education policy is rarely an exciting activity, the panelists on our webinar showed how important it is that advocates and community members know how ESSA works: the future of our children’s education depends on it.

A few weeks ago, I was honored to speak on a panel and workshop at the 70th Annual Education Writers Association National Seminar in Washington, DC, on social media and storytelling.

With me were Virginia Tech biologist Anne Hilborn, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation's Patrick Riccards (better known as EduFlack), and NPR Ed Team reporter Cory Turner. We were moderated by Virginia Tech’s Cathy Grimes and the Learning Policy Institute’s Barbara McKenna.

Public education policy has a reputation for being both contentious and wonky, which is why finding new ways to connect researchers, journalists, policymakers, advocates, and community members is key to moving from debate to action. We were lucky enough to secure a two-session block, so we were able to answer many questions from the more than fifty audience members in attendance and really dive deep into storytelling, social media strategy, and case studies of these ideas operating in the education space.

A lot was covered, so I’ll focus on a few key takeaways discussed:

Since their founding, local public schools and their educators have produced America’s most brilliant artists, scientists, doctors, musicians, lawyers, presidents, and more — people from all walks of life, contributing to society in a myriad of ways. The neighborhood public school is often the center of a civic and cultural life, recognized as the key to each community's future. The fate of public schools affect the fate of everyone: it's why they were one of the first institutions built by freed slaves during Reconstruction, and why they were so central to desegregating our towns and cities a century later.

And while the struggle continues to make our public schools more equitable and just for every child, we must also celebrate and protect those aspects that are now under threat by privatization, disinvestment, and resegregation. That's why the Schott Foundation is proud to lift up some of the countless success stories that our public schools produce every year from coast to coast.